USA Prosecution open to freezing Trump trial until 2029

In the hush-money trial against US President-elect Donald Trump, the public prosecutor's office wants to uphold the 78-year-old's conviction. At the same time, however, District Attorney Alvin Bragg was open to postponing the sentencing originally planned for next week for years - until after the end of the Republican's second four-year term in office.

In a letter to Judge Juan Merchan, Bragg argued that no law states that the criminal immunity of a president has an effect on proceedings during which the defendant did not yet have immunity. In addition, Trump's convicted conduct involved criminal offenses that occurred before his first term as president and therefore also did not enjoy any special legal protection.

Regarding a possible postponement, Bragg wrote: "Given the need to balance competing constitutional interests", a postponement of all further actions "until after the end of the defendant's upcoming term of office" should be considered, among other things.

Trump facing second term in the White House

An expected decision by the judge on how to proceed was still pending. If the guilty verdict stands, Trump is likely to become the first sitting US president to be convicted under criminal law in just a few weeks.

Trump is due to be sworn in for his second term as head of state on January 20. This will regularly last until January 2029, at which point Trump would be 82 years old.

Trump invokes the ruling of the US Supreme Court

At the beginning of July, the Supreme Court, with its right-wing conservative majority of judges, ruled that Trump enjoys immunity for certain official acts. The Republican's lawyers want to use this historic landmark ruling to overturn the judgment in the hush money case after all. As President, Trump must also be able to act, which could be hindered by a penalty in the case.

Background: hush money payments to a porn actress

A jury in New York found Trump guilty of 34 charges at the end of May. The trial concerned the illegal concealment of 130,000 dollars in hush money payments to a porn actress in order to gain advantages during the 2016 election campaign. In the worst case scenario, he could face several years in prison - although this is considered unlikely in view of the upcoming presidency.

SDA